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Low expectations, soft bigotry. The elites who are calling these shots have every opportunity to educate themselves, even regarding 6/4, but certainly with rega

Low expectations, soft bigotry. The elites who are calling these shots have every opportunity to educate themselves, even regarding 6/4, but certainly with regard to the rest of human history. Many studied in the West, where the awful lessons of Western history take a more central role in the conversation. No pass, no pardon, no excuse.

clouddrover 8y ago
I have high expectations for China. China is failing to meet them. America doesn't meet other of my expectations. Censorship is not an excuse for their behavior. It's a further criticism of the Chinese state. The suppression of ideas and history is something which makes outcomes like these more likely.
- CapricornNoble 8y ago
  "I have high expectations for China." Why? Besides Tiananmen, China has the same government and leadership culture that perpetrated the Cultural Revolution. Going back slightly further to the 1800s, the Taiping Rebellion killed 20-70 million people in China, humanity's bloodiest rebellion/Civil War. Chinese culture has a looooong history of violent repression of internal dissent IMO....
  - clouddrover 8y ago
    You seem to be misunderstanding the usage of the word "expectation" in this context. I want China to meet a higher standard of behavior. China is failing to meet that standard.
    - CapricornNoble 8y ago
      Sure, we all wish humanity would "do better". But if your baseline expectations are low, you are rarely disappointed. For an organization or individual to have its expectations changed from "low" to "high", there should be some basis for such an upgrade, primarily actions taken by the organization that demonstrate higher performance (for whatever metric you are using to define "performance", in this case protection of human rights). Does the Chinese Communist Party have a demonstrable history of embracing or advancing human rights? IMO, no. So they remain at the "low expectations" baseline.
      - clouddrover 8y ago
        I have high expectations for a child even if that child hasn't demonstrated better before. Again, you're simply misunderstanding the usage of the word "expectation". That I "expect" better from them means they need to do better, not that they will.

clouddrover 8y ago

I have high expectations for China. China is failing to meet them. America doesn't meet other of my expectations. Censorship is not an excuse for their behavior. It's a further criticism of the Chinese state. The suppression of ideas and history is something which makes outcomes like these more likely.

CapricornNoble 8y ago
"I have high expectations for China." Why? Besides Tiananmen, China has the same government and leadership culture that perpetrated the Cultural Revolution. Going back slightly further to the 1800s, the Taiping Rebellion killed 20-70 million people in China, humanity's bloodiest rebellion/Civil War. Chinese culture has a looooong history of violent repression of internal dissent IMO....
- clouddrover 8y ago
  You seem to be misunderstanding the usage of the word "expectation" in this context. I want China to meet a higher standard of behavior. China is failing to meet that standard.
  - CapricornNoble 8y ago
    Sure, we all wish humanity would "do better". But if your baseline expectations are low, you are rarely disappointed. For an organization or individual to have its expectations changed from "low" to "high", there should be some basis for such an upgrade, primarily actions taken by the organization that demonstrate higher performance (for whatever metric you are using to define "performance", in this case protection of human rights). Does the Chinese Communist Party have a demonstrable history of embracing or advancing human rights? IMO, no. So they remain at the "low expectations" baseline.
    - clouddrover 8y ago
      I have high expectations for a child even if that child hasn't demonstrated better before. Again, you're simply misunderstanding the usage of the word "expectation". That I "expect" better from them means they need to do better, not that they will.